Costa Rica Sea Turtle Conservation
LAST (Latin American Sea Turtles) is part of WIDECAST’s (Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network) Latin American Program in Costa Rica, encompassing efforts not only on the Caribbean Sea but also on the Pacific. LAST carries out in-water studies and operates a rescue and rehabilitation center. The Pacuare project is located in the north of the Caribbean. The beach is part of the 50 km coastline stretching between Tortuguero National Park and the port of Limón. It is a crucial nesting beach for Leatherback, Green Sea Turtles, and sometimes the rare Hawksbill Sea Turtle and Loggerhead Sea Turtle.
Responsibilities at the Pacuare Project included nursery management and night beach patrols, with shifts distributed among the group's. In the nursery, the group worked in teams of 2-3 people for 4-hour shifts. The main task at hand was to check the nests every 10–15 minutes to monitor for any signs of hatchling emergence. I was lucky enough to have been working on a night where 6 turtles arrived on shore, with 4 laying eggs. By the end of the night I planted over 100 eggs in my own incubated holes made to mimick the natural hole of female turtle. Whereas on the beach,my fellow program members , accompanied by two local volunteers and a staff, undertook 10-kilometer patrol walks. The goal was to locate turtles coming ashore to lay their eggs and confirm their safety in doing so. I completed 2 10k mile walks in search of turtles, as well as as 5k beach clean up through the pacure rainforest barefoot.
At the Osa project, our group went on a boat, placed nets into the water to catch turtles, and completed data collection by measuring, weighing, removing barnacles, tagging, and taking DNA samples. Our group was very successful and caught four turtles, which were released after the data collection. At the end of the day, we took the nets out of the water, went back to LAST, and cleaned and sorted the nets for the next day. Our group also helped with the mangrove reforestation project that helps restore mangroves.
Responsibilities at the Pacuare Project included nursery management and night beach patrols, with shifts distributed among the group's. In the nursery, the group worked in teams of 2-3 people for 4-hour shifts. The main task at hand was to check the nests every 10–15 minutes to monitor for any signs of hatchling emergence. I was lucky enough to have been working on a night where 6 turtles arrived on shore, with 4 laying eggs. By the end of the night I planted over 100 eggs in my own incubated holes made to mimick the natural hole of female turtle. Whereas on the beach,my fellow program members , accompanied by two local volunteers and a staff, undertook 10-kilometer patrol walks. The goal was to locate turtles coming ashore to lay their eggs and confirm their safety in doing so. I completed 2 10k mile walks in search of turtles, as well as as 5k beach clean up through the pacure rainforest barefoot.
At the Osa project, our group went on a boat, placed nets into the water to catch turtles, and completed data collection by measuring, weighing, removing barnacles, tagging, and taking DNA samples. Our group was very successful and caught four turtles, which were released after the data collection. At the end of the day, we took the nets out of the water, went back to LAST, and cleaned and sorted the nets for the next day. Our group also helped with the mangrove reforestation project that helps restore mangroves.
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